Trial in death of police K-9 starts for officer

Dog died after being left inside patrol SUV

by Megan Boehnke - Aug. 15, 2008 12:00 AMThe Arizona Republic

Just over a year after Sgt. Tom Lovejoy left his police dog sleeping in his patrol SUV, the Chandler officer goes on trial today hoping to prove that Bandit's death that hot August day was a tragic accident, not animal cruelty.

Lovejoy's wife hopes the trial on misdemeanor charges will allow their family to finally put the events behind them.

"It's been hell," Carolynn Lovejoy said of the past 12 months. "We really just want to heal and move on with our lives now."

Bandit's death spurred a huge public outcry, including death threats against the officer. After an internal investigation, Chandler police suspended Lovejoy for two days and removed him from his job as head of the K-9 unit. He remains a sergeant but now works in patrol.

On Aug. 11, 2007, the 17-year veteran was operating on six hours of sleep over two days after working several extra-duty shifts. Early that morning, he was called in to help officers responding to a possible sighting of the Chandler serial rapist, but he overslept. He then headed to another extra-duty shift controlling traffic for road construction.

Lovejoy was on the phone with his wife when he arrived back home at 9 a.m. and left the dog sleeping in the back of his patrol SUV, according to a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office report. An hour later, his stepson called saying he was in a minor car accident and needed help, and 30 minutes later Lovejoy's wife said she was having an anxiety attack at work and needed him.

Thirteen hours after he first left the dog, Lovejoy returned to the SUV and discovered the 5-year-old Belgian Malinois dead.

Although Lovejoy has been advised not to speak publicly on the case, his wife said the officer acknowledges being negligent but insists he is not guilty of the animal-cruelty charges, which require finding the person reckless.

"For what they're charging him with, it would have to mean he put the dog in the car and said, 'I'll see you later buddy,' knowing the risk," she said.

Instead, she claims he simply forgot the dog and was so emotionally distraught when he found Bandit dead that night he couldn't figure out how the dog got into the vehicle.

"Unless you know Tom and know his love for animals and how much he loved that guy, you just can't understand," Carolynn Lovejoy said.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, which investigated the case, at one point became a target of Lovejoy's defense.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio was deposed, and in June, Lovejoy's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming Arpaio pursued charges against Lovejoy in a quest for publicity while previously ignoring the deaths of three of his own agency's police dogs. The Sheriff's Office dismissed the claim as "legal maneuvering" and called the cases "apples and oranges."

The judge ruled against the defense and ordered the case to move forward. The trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. at San Tan Justice Court in downtown Chandler.